The effector molecules of the immune system include a repertoire of circulating immunoglobulins non-attributable to exogenous antigenic induction, variously referred to as “autoantibodies” or “natural antibodies”. The existence of such antibodies has been long recognized and their various proposed functions may be classed as “self-attack” or “self-benefit”. For the former, the specter of autoimmunity is raised and the term “autoantibodies” is customarily applied. For the latter, the term “autoantibodies” is customarily applied. For the latter, designated “natural; antibodies”, support of homeostasis is implied.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/271,210 filed Jul. 5, 1994, discloses a circulating natural human antibody immunoreactive with an arginine-rich epitope present on human protamine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,026 issued Feb. 25, 1997, discloses that the arginine-rich epitope is present in the Tat protein of HIV-1 and further discloses a second circulating human natural antibody immunoreactive with a different epitope on the Tat protein of HIV-1. In addition, a third circulating human natural antibody immunoreactive with a cryptic epitope present on human lactoferrin is disclosed therein.
It has been shown that all three of the above-mentioned circulating human natural antibodies decrease after HIV infection reaching minimal levels as the patient progresses to AIDS. These antibodies are found in all sera of normal humans of all ages, from cord blood to adult, which, by virtue of their ubiquitous occurrence, are identified as natural antibodies.
Therefore, what is needed in the art are the monoclonal counterparts of these circulating human natural antibodies for their therapeutic and diagnostic uses.